5 Workouts your gym doesn't want you to know about
The Fitness Classes You'll Almost Never Bail On
Consider
Grokker, a
new online wellness community. "Premium members" who pay $19 a month
have access to virtual group classes (a new and still rare concept).
This means that some pre-recorded classes are played only at specific
times, you can see the names of other people who are also working out,
and you can ask the instructor real-time questions about how to
correctly perform a move or how to modify exercises. This gives more of a
sense of we're-all-in-this-together than you get from streaming a video
– but for days when you feel like doing yoga at the same time the abs
& core class is offered, Grokker offers streaming videos, too.
Exercise Videos Cool Enough for Rock Stars
The
Pound series
ain't your mama's home-workout routine. This at-home version of a
popular fitness class at Crunch gyms involves constant simulated
drumming with lightly weighted drumsticks. Each jam session combines
cardio, Pilates, isometric movements and plyometrics. This concept was
developed by two certified group-fitness instructors who also happen to
be recreational percussionists, and they swear Pound torches fat and
sculpts drummer-chick arms (we can attest to the fact that all that
pounding made our biceps burn—in an awesome way). For $40, you get your
own pair of
Ripstix as well as two DVDs with instructions and four workouts that you can do alone or one after another. You also get the freedom to
rock out like a Muppet in your living room without feeling self-conscious.
Feel Like a Million Without Spending a Million
You may have heard
celebrities like Kelly Ripa and Lisa Rinna raving about the transformative effects of
Physique 57,
a boutique fitness class that combines ballet, Pilates and isometrics.
The intense moves done on the floor and at a ballet barre are designed
to improve your posture and strengthen your core, which can help you
look longer and leaner. The studios are currently located only in New
York and Los Angeles, and classes can become addictive and prohibitive (
$31-36 for one class; $110-$250 for the first month). For as little as $5, you can
"rent" a video
for up to 48 hours led by the same graceful-but-ripped instructors who
teach at the studios (all are dancers). You'll need a sturdy piece of
furniture and a set of hand weights for some workouts, but you might not
need to get a second job to afford them.
Read more:
http://www.oprah.com/health/Home-Workout-Home-Exercises-Workout-Video
Yoga Classes for the Overscheduled and Unorganized
Going to yoga class can be more stressful than staying
home: You hustle to get there but still arrive late, squeeze into the
last few inches of space and modify the poses to avoid accidentally
punching someone in the face. Members of the
online community YogaGlo
can download videos to watch at home, allowing them to take whatever
kind of class they want, any time of day or night. For $18 a month, you
get unlimited access to more than 2,000 streaming online yoga videos
taught by certified instructors, and you can search classes by style,
duration, personal goal or body part. So while you won't get hands-on
adjustments from a live instructor, you can find exactly the class
you're looking for—like a 20-minute Hatha sequence for lower-back
pain—and you're guaranteed to get a spot.
The Videos for When You're Just Not Feeling the Afro-Pop
Love Zumba but crave something new? Mix up your routine (and your tunes) with the new
Doonya Bollywood Workout DVDs ($25 for a set of 3;
streaming online workouts for $10).
The wonderful thing about Indian dance is that it can involve
high-impact, celebratory moves like hopping, stomping and spinning, but
it never feels like aerobics. These routines are set to invigorating
music that fuses Indian classical and folk tunes with jazz and
"Bolly-pop"—stuff you most likely haven't heard outside of a Bollywood
musical or an Indian wedding. Instructors, who teach at studios in New
York, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, break down the individual moves
and explain how dances are incorporated into Bollywood movies (a
replay-able gift for the uncoordinated). So once you get it all down,
you’ll feel as if you're performing on set...even when the only other
extra is your cat.
Next: More fun ways to work out
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